Vitamin K2 And D With Dr Sarah Booth

The body needs calcium to build strong bones and teeth. But calcium does not act alone. It needs vitamin D for absorption, vitamin K2 to distribute it to the right places and vitamin A to discharge excess calcium. Calcium also needs magnesium to balance it.

Vitamin K2 does 2 things. It put calcium in the right places, ie, bones and teeth and removes calcium from places where it should not be, ie, soft tissues like the arteries (plaque in arteries). eyes (cataract) and kidney (kidney stones).

One practical example is vitamin K2 not only prevents tooth decay, vitamin k2 can actually repair tooth cavities.

Dr Sarah Booth is a Senior Scientist and Director of the Vitamin K Laboratory, Tufts University. Her CV:

http://hnrca.tufts.edu/sarah-l-booth-ph-d/

In this FAQ session (47 minutes), she discusses:

Why is vitamin K important? 

How much vitamin K should I take and which form? 

Is it important to balance vitamin K intake with vitamin D and other nutrients?

The takeaway:

1. There are 2 forms of Vitamin K2. 

One is plant base. The body can convert Vitamin K1 which is abundantly available from green leafy vegetables and turn it into Vitamin K2.

Vitamin K2 is also available from grass fed animals such as cattle and chicken. (The problem is many cows and chicken are no longer grass fed.)

The surprise is that Vitamin K2 can be found in fermented food, like natto (Japanese fermented soya beans), kimchi, tempeh and natural cheese.

2.  Drugs like coumarin and warfarin which are used to treat high blood pressure prevents vitamin K2 from doing its job. As a consequence, people with high blood pressure and using the drugs will eventually succumb to cardio vascular diseases.

3. She recommends that people eat more vegetables.

Dr Sarah Booth on Vitamin K2.

Enjoy the video.